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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28174779">The rescue of Manuela Casagranda</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigiConjurer/pseuds/DigiConjurer'>DigiConjurer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The unsorted adventures of Princess Byleth and the Black Eagles [68]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, F/F, False Identity, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Cindered Shadows DLC Spoilers, Hostage Situations, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Rescue, Rescue Missions, chapter 6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:07:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,575</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28174779</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigiConjurer/pseuds/DigiConjurer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which our heroes go to rescue Manuela. I don't see this going wrong at all as the chapter ends.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Caspar von Bergliez/Linhardt von Hevring, Catherine/Shamir Nevrand, Dorothea Arnault/My Unit | Byleth, Edelgard von Hresvelg/Bernadetta von Varley, Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra, Manuela Casagranda/OC, Petra Macneary/Mercedes von Martritz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The unsorted adventures of Princess Byleth and the Black Eagles [68]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1463725</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Back Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>I don't own Fire Emblem.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>The ride back to Gareg Mach was relatively uneventful. The only real thing of note was the seating arrangement in the borrowed minivan. I'm mostly certain that you're really not supposed to have people like you have them now. A crash away from an unhappy ending.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Let's start with the back. There we find Cherry with Lysithea in her lap. Beside them is the mysterious purple-haired boy with Catherine &amp; Shamir capping out the right seat. Moving up a row, we have Dorothea, Byleth, Flayn, Edelgard and Bernadetta all squished into a single seat. As the one who's vehicle this came from, I would only assume that she would at least get the privilege of having a seat to herself.  But with the number of people squeezed into this car, that isn't a guarantee. As for the middle, that would be Caspar with Linhardt on top of him. Obviously, the latter is napping. Why wouldn't he be? Can't imagine that our fighter is comfortable at all. I definitely wouldn't be. Which brings us to the right seat. Here we find Hubert and Ferdinand. They actually look quite comfortable. Probably because Hubert is bottoming right now. Oh. In a non-sexual fashion. You know what I meant. No, there aren't any lap dances occurring in the vehicle. Why the heck did you think that? It's not funny! I'm almost done here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That left the front of the vehicle, where we found Petra and Mercedes in separate seats. I can understand Mercedes, but Petra? It looks like someone is playing favorites. Or perhaps that was how things worked out. Doesn't really matter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We’re almost to Gareg Mach, everyone!"" Mercedes announced, cries of excitement and joy echoing out to the front. Don't even want to imagine how long they were cramped in that tin can of a vehicle. At least Corrin had the foresight to bring a bus to most battles. Far easier to keep track of the gazillion people that needed to be ferried around for the sake of kicking our enemies. Or getting paired up with the most random of people. Because of course we were. She obviously knew who liked who. What point was there in having joined up with assholes like Azama? That asshole got himself killed before the war was over. Time and place for pacifism. This wasn't that time. Far from it, in fact. But I digress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What’s our plan of attack?" Caspar whispered, Byleth’s head poking out from the pile. A deep breath followed. I feel like what’s next is pretty obvious. Get changed into regular clothes. Seriously, none of you fuckers are fighting in swimsuits again. Just because it worked here in this situation doesn’t mean that it’ll work elsewhere. I digress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“One of you has to babysit Mr Assassin so he doesn’t run off.” Byleth remarked, doing her best to focus on the purple-haired boy. Not that he was doing the same for her. That's the least you could do. But no, that was asking too much here. Nonetheless, the professor let her focus turn to Ferdinand and Hubert. "Would you mind keeping an eye on our assailant?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ferdinand’s gaze shot over to Byleth, a very careful nod following. Did get him a look from Hubert. Probably should've asked your boyfriend before agreeing to something like that. Not that I doubt that the dark mage would truly mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We would gladly help you with that." Hubert answered and looked to this still unnamed boy in the back. Still nothing from him. Probably just pissed that his supposed conspiracy turned out to be untrue and that he was caught trying to commit was likely regicide for the sake of a laugh. Not that funny now, sitting in the back of the minivan. Among many other things. "The least you could do is tell us your name."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No response. Bad day or not, it's absolutely disrespectful to not introduce yourself. Especially on a dark night where you're bringing over a sweet treat or something the person lost in the hopes of making tomorrow a bit better for them. The last thing you need is to get shot or stabbed because you forgot to shout your name and maybe what you're doing on their property.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I guess we'll just call you Purple then." Caspar chimed in, a knife finding its way a bit too close too Linhardt’s head. You've all lost one person today. Let's not make it two. "Fine. Not Purple. Any other suggestions?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still nothing. At this point, might have been better for him to just give his actual name rather than give the runaround. Probably would've gotten an even better result. Not, getting treated like an absolute joke of a person. But I digress. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How about Guy?" Petra suggested, this finally bringing our purple-haired boy's attention over to someone in this car. I guess that works. There are always more awful options on offer. I think I had a friend named Wheat. His family grew vegetables. They tried throwing pumpkins at a faceless. Didn’t go particularly well. But that’s a story for another day. On the bright side, the parking lot for Gareg Mach finally coming into view. Thank fuck. Do you want to switch back in, Nyx? Okay. That works with me.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nyx here. Finally feeling better after 'that' moment. Only took a couple hours and most of a paralogue. As my wife was saying, we're finally at Gareg Mach. More specifically, the lot to house all the staff vehicles. A lot bigger than it needs to be. Rhea somehow expects an army to just politely park their cars and then get to fighting. Unbelievable. That stupid bus never parked correctly. You could give the driver an entire field with one car at the far back corner. That fucker would still manage to hit that car. An absolutely awful gift. Or perhaps a curse for cutting off a witch. Yeah, that sounds like the sort of thing they wo- Outside of that one time, I have never ever truly cursed my enemies. Too big of a hassle and usually never worth the results. Good question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bringing the minivan to a stop, the black eagles dumped themselves out. Not really a better way to put that. It looks like a massive pile of people who are absolutely ready to be finished with this shit. Still don't blame them for wanting that. Life sadly, really does not care one bit. If it somehow did, everything would be all sunshine and roses. No one wants that. Nice as it most definitely sounds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Let’s meet back in around a half hour. Is that good with everyone else?" Byleth announced, pulling herself out of the pile. Dorothea was right behind, with Caspar and Linhardt bringing up the rear of our first group. As for the rest of the pile, we have nods all about. Good to see you're all in agreement… for some reason. I'm not entirely sure that needed to be announced. Maybe if it had been the place that you were going to meet up at, then yeah. I can totally see that. But the amount of time? That really shouldn't matter that much in the grand scheme of things. You'll get there when you get there. If something bad we're to happen in the process, you can just change yo- Judging by the look my wife is giving me, I have gone on a complete tangent. Sorry about that. After all the action in these last couple parts, I'm kind of ready to be done with this chapter. I can only imagine it's the same with you, Mozu. Judging by the nod, I'll take that as a yes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Works for me." Catherine announced, carefully grabbing hold of her girlfriend’s hand. Rhea is definitely not going to be happy to find out a member of staff has died in the job. Even if it wasn't Shamir’s fault in the slightest, it's highly likely she'll be taking the brunt of the abuse. Definitely won't kill her, but will definitely come close. There's also the matter of Flayn and getting her stuff. More of Bernadetta and Edelgard's job than that of Catherine &amp; Shamir.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Same." Bernadetta remarked and reached out for Flayn's hand. Grabbing hold of the healer's hand, a squeeze followed. That's one way of keeping her calm. "By any chance could you take us to your apartment?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Flayn nodded and took this as her opportunity to get going. Her 'mothers' followed right, a sign our other pair took to do the same. Be a heck of a lot easier if you just summoned your drones to get you over. I guess it could be either a weight or connection issue. Either way, Byleth’s attention shifted to the rest of her students.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We should be quick." Hubert announced as Ferdinand lifted Guy up over his shoulder. Even after that fall, I'm more than certain Guy doesn't need that. But suit yourselves. I'm not calling the shots. Even if I were, you can just ignore me. Simple as that. Heading out, that just leaves three more pairs. Five, with Dorothea going off to her own apartment rather than Byleth's.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll carry sleepyhead to my apartment and get him dressed." Caspar remarked and looked to Cherry. For someone who looked so carefree and joyous, there’s nothing but stress and frustration within his own head. A direct result of his own father trying to make things worse rather than better. Maybe that's why Linhardt is asleep. Can't really focus on the negatives if you're dreaming. I guess you can, but it's a challenge. Most of the time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have a pretty good idea where Lysithea’s apartment is.” Cherry announced and lifted Lysithea up. Cradling the little mage in her arm, she’s already heading off to their destination. For now, Lysithea accepted the gesture. This is going to be a big challenge for all of them. Her especially. I can’t even imagine being in her shoes. But that’s beyond the point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is there anything else you need?” Dorothea called out and watched Byleth shake her head. Carefully hugging the professor, it’s off for her. Oddly, Petra and Mercedes followed right behind. Guess they don’t have as much baggage as everyone else. Good to know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taking a deep breath, the professor took her map out. Giving it a quick look over, she pointed to her apartment. Just a matter of waiting a couple moments for the drone to come down and pick our professor up. Once it did, you just needed to hope that the unmanned device wouldn’t drop you to your death. This time it didn’t. Probability of odds in Byleth’s favor as she was placed down in front of her apartment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m home!” she announced and knocked on the wall. Good to see that the door is still gone. Almost not worth replacing it. Rhea or som-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi Professor.” Claude announced, munching down on what looked to be some mozzarella sticks. Which doesn’t explain why he’s sitting on the couch and playing on what is clearly Sothis’s switch. “Where the hell is she?”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. At wits end</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Byleth just tries to hold it together.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don't own Fire Emblem.</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Byleth was absolutely done with this shit. Bad enough that Sothis had disappeared on her. But to have the one fucking person she didn’t want to see? There’s only so much future princess time in the world to offset the amount of Claude time occurring right now. Though, that also depended on what exactly the leader of the golden deer did next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get out of my house.” she barked, Claude not even giving the bare minimum of eye contact to the professor. No, his focus was more on the switch and those stupid mozzerlla sticks. I could really go for some ri- After this part is complete. I would never put aside my narration duties for the sake of some fast food. Even if it has been tempting a couple times. But I have to stand strong against temptations. Or something along those lines. The point is Claude is a little shit that thinks he’s better than everyone else or something dumb. He isn’t. Absolutely pathetic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not till you tell me where she is.” Claude countered and shifted his position on the couch. What looks to be Byleth’s princess dress is right underneath. That fucker! Byleth is barely getting paid and now you’ve ruined the one thing she has going for. Congrats. Your new title is now ‘piece of shit’. Much better. A shame no more murder is going to occur today. Because this stain is the perfect target to be wiped away. Uh… that might be going a bit too far. How about… ‘asshole’. Much better. Last thing we need is people shouting at us from the comment section. Not that people really have. Except when they do. Beyond the point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, but you can tell me where Sothis is.” Byleth answered and pulled the sword off her back out. Pointing the blade at our asshole, he’s content with goofing about on the switch. Can you really be that dense and/or stupid. “You know, I could throw you over. What would you dear old parents think of that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That did get a response from Asshole. By that I mean he grabbed a sword of his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They would murder you.” Asshole announced and swung his blade forward. Missed by a massive margin. Maybe he thought Byleth would go easy. She did not. No, she came awfully close to straight up stabbing him. Just because you’re legitimately mad at him for valid reasons does not justify death. Not yet at least. Maybe once this war comes or something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would love to see them try. Far too many ways to make this look like an accident.” Byleth countered, pushing her sword closer to Asshole. Definitely isn't killing range, but you can leave one hell of a wound if you're good. "Though, I can only imagine they have someone else to replace you. So let me ask again. Why the fuck are you in my apartment?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Asshole's sword goes down, Byleth doing the same. Sheathing her weapon, time was taken to grab her opponent's sword away. Don't want to take any chances.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"There’s no door. That’s an open invitation." Asshole announced, finding himself getting stared down by his more than gracious host. This is the part where you go and don't come back for a couple chapters. Simple. Long as you're not a complete idiot and want to push people's patience to the limit. No one wants that. Ever. But I'm beating a dead horse at this point. Asshole pulled out his map and pointed to his apartment. A drone appeared and picked the house leader up, Sothis’s switch thankfully safe. Did leave behind the mozzarella sticks to boot. Free snack, even if it was made by Asshole of all people. Picking up the princess dress off of the couch, she headed for the laundry room. Not quite the priorities I would expect someone to take with a child missing, but these circumstances are strange, counter-intuitive and frustrating. I'll let this slide. For now. If something changes, we'll see.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Byleth?” a voice called out, our professor spinning around. In the doorway was Sothis. No worse for the wear, but absolutely confused by her return. The least of our worries.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There you are!” Byleth announced and wrapped her arms around her daughter. Lifting her up, care was taken to not snap her in half by accident. After Seteth’s death, that’s the last thing she needs to be dealing with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where were you?” Sothis whispered, her mother taking a deep breath. Good of a time as any to give her an explanation of what just went on. Walking over to the couch, the pair sat their butts down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“On a beach, dealing with dragon slayers.” Byleth explained and took a deep breath, looking away at the last word. Was there even a way to break the death of one of your bosses. Only one real way to find out. “I watched one of my bosses die. It shouldn’t be any different to seeing my enemies fall, but it came so sudden and out of nowhere that I don’t know what to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sothis looked to her mother. Odd as it sounded, there was something familiar to this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Was it a dragon by any chance?” she remarked and watched her mother’s eyes grow wide. A nod followed. Why did she know that? What purpose could pulling that knowledge right out of her even do for them? This was so annoying. For once, she would absolutely kill for the clari-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her eyes forced their way shut, images bombarding her head. Dragons danced about, brought to their knees with careless abandon. Armed not with axes and swords, but instead strange sticks that fired out strange shells. Unlike anything she had ever seen or ever wanted to see in her life. Now, it was just taunting her. Mocking her once more for good measure as she watched the images play back through. Of course they did. Why wouldn’t they in a situation like this?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sothis?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sothis’s eyes shot open. Now in Byleth’s bedroom, the professor had changed into her regular clothes. The sword of the creator hung at her side, more than ready to be used to slice away all that threatened to get in the way of their rescue mission. So just about everyone who might be waiting for them in this place Guy most definitely came from. Got it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m okay. Just had a moment.” Sothis answered and took a deep breath. Getting up from the bed, her gaze bounced about in search of the 3DS. When she couldn’t find her beloved gaming device, it was off to her own room. Byleth followed right behind, making sure to look for anyone else that might be in here to wreck her day. If such people somehow were, they would’ve made themselves known with Claude’s departure. Since you had no more people after him, you’re in the clear. I hope at least. Could be wrong there. Been wrong tons of times. Hopefully, this isn’t a case of that. But I digress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you finish Bravely Default?” Byleth remarked and got a nod from her daughter. Then it’s right back to staring at the mess that is Sothis’s room. I’m not even sure how half this stuff even got in here. Doesn’t matter now. “I’m guessing you found my cartridge of Bravely Second then. Have you started yet?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sothis shook her head and let her focus return to scrambling about the room in search of her elusive gaming device. Not be surprised if it turns out Asshole grabbed it before messing around with Sothis’s switch. The nerve of him. Yes, I’m fully aware I’m jumping to conclusions there. One option out of a ton to explain this happening. Far more likely that she misplaced it somewhere in this mess and can’t quite find it. Sounds a lot more plausible now that I’ve said it out loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I needed to ask you something, but then Claude showed up and was… Claude.” Sothis answered, feeling her mother carefully grab hold of her hand. Looking to Byleth, she found herself wrapped up into a loose hug. Definitely needed that after today.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was it you wanted to ask me?” Byleth remarked and carefully let go of her daughter, sitting herself down on the bed. Running her hand across the covers, she brushed across a box-shaped object. Pulling the covers away, out comes the 3DS. See? A lot simpler than I made it out to be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh… does anything carry over from the first game?” Sothis remarked and got a head shake in return. Getting handed the device, her gaze returned to Byleth. Grabbing hold, the pair headed towards the front of the house. “I’m guessing you found Manuela?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Byleth looked away, her gaze coming upon Dorothea of all people. Back in her regular school uniform, her stone bag jingled about. Quite a bit louder than normal. Good to be prepared.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh… kinda, Sothis.” Dorothea remarked and gave the child a slight head pat. “We found someone who’s able to take us where she might be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eh. Good enough. Though, I’m more surprised that the kiss wasn’t mentioned. Though, that was a spur of the moment thing - a kind of early birthday present.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All good?” Byleth added, Dorothea grabbing hold of her hand. Guess that answers your question. Even if it was just a yes or no question.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Sense of Duty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hubert does a little interrogating.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Last entry of 2020. Whoo.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don't own Fire Emblem.</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Hubert wasn’t completely sure what to make of Guy at this point. Even as this mysterious assailant sat patiently on the couch, something about him rubbed the dark mage the wrong way. Try as he might to put his finger on what it was exactly that brought forth those feelings, the answer stepped out of his reach at the last moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tell me, how did you know where to find Wifey?” Hubert inquired and got a look from Guy. Shifting his seated position, his gaze focused on the dark mage. Cracking a smile, it’s met with a frown of all expressions. “And please don’t tell me you just lucked into the one mansion that had someone in it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>An eye roll, followed by a chuckle. Definitely not the answer that Hubert was looking for. Quite rude way to respond to an honest question like that. Hopefully, we're not dealing with another Azama situation. Yes, I'm well aware how huge of a beating we've given that dead horse. It works so well as a comparison for so many things. What else could we use in place of that? Saizo? Eh. That doesn't lend as well that the idiot monk did. Considering his relationship with his son, I guess that's kind of idiotic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I refuse to believe that Count Varley is gone. He's obviously in hiding, plotting his next move." Guy remarked, Hubert's hands reaching for a stone from his pouch. Conspiracy theories are a completely normal thing to come out of the woodwork following someone's death. But this is just ridiculous. I totally understand Edelgard wishing to stay on the down low of things. But she most definitely should've made an announcement about Bernadetta taking her parent's place as countess. No, the conspiracy theories would still happen. There would be some attacks on Bernadetta and her circumstances, but nothing too severe. Probably not any claims 'Count Varley' was still alive and doing his wonderful things. Wait.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Outside of the main empire, Count Varley’s exploits were kept under wraps. Yet, you’re quite aware of all they did to women." Hubert countered and leaned forward. Hand still in the stone pouch, but nothing grabbed. A last resort if Guy tried anything stupid. "Tell me Guy, how did you come into knowing that information?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Silence. Guy's gaze fell to the floor. There's something else here. But what exactly? And why do I get the feeling that we're not going to like the answer that he's going to give.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Because I was asked to assassinate his daughter." Guy answered, Hubert standing up. A stone came out. I get the feeling</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You little fuck. If anything, you should have done her in.” Hubert screeched and flung the stone onto the floor. Purple flames echoed about, threatening to consume both teenagers. Not that they would. Absolutely ridiculous. Where’s Ferdinand when you need him? He probably would get things straight. Or at least, better than Hubert at making sure to be diplomatic. Or something close to that. “Do you have any idea the hell she walked through just to reach this point. A couple months ago, she couldn’t sleep because of how severe the nightmares were. Some nights, her highness had to stay with her just to make sure that she got something resembling sleep. What do you say to that?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Guy looked away, the purple flames still burning on the floor. Those can be put out… right? The last thing you and Ferdinand need is a fire tearing apart your abode. Unless you have plans to move elsewhere after the entire building goes up in flames. The amount of angry tenants created aren't something you want to invoke the wrath of. Especially when some of them are your classmates and next in line for positions in the empire. I digress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I couldn't do it. Not for her, not against him." Guy mumbled, the bedroom door swinging open. Ferdinand walked out, dressed in his regular attire. His gaze shifted to the fire created by Hubert's stone. Stamping it out, his focus turned to the dark mage. A whisper exited his lips, his boyfriend taken aback. A deep breath followed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He's all yours." Hubert cooed and stood up from the couch. Walking over to the door, he watched Ferdinand take his place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Guy, what's your actual name?" Ferdinand remarked and set his lance down beside him. Focusing back on his guest, they were sweating arrows. What do you mean that's not how that expression works? At one time people probably did. Can't quite remember when or really why. Just something they said because they thought it made sense or something. Doesn't matter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why would I tell you of all people?” Guy countered and leaned towards Ferdinand. “What if knowing it meant having to kill you? I doubt your friend would want that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ferdinand rolled his eyes and picked his lance back up. Of course Guy just had to play hard to get in this moment. There was a lot at stake. Not just Manuela, but likely who knows how many other people who had been without release. As a noble, he needed to right that wrong. If that meant playing dirty, so fucking be it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because you committed an act of treason, that’s what.” the lancer announced and raised his lance up to meet Guy’s chest. “Not only did you stand by as a little girl and her mother were raped, you stood by and watched. Didn’t even say a word. Do you know what that makes you? A horrible person, quite possibly worse than Count Varley himself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Guy doesn’t even respond.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So I’m the problem now. Good to know.” Guy remarked and dug into his pocket, a knife bouncing out of his pocket. Flinging it up into the air, this moron is intent on letting gravity do the work. What the fuck is he thinking? So much for diplomacy. More like, Regicide? Yeah, let’s go with that term for this situation. Yes, I’m aware that Ferdinand isn’t a king or prince or whatever. Couldn’t quite remember what the appropriate term for this situation was. Doesn't matter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't even think about it." Hubert announced as a stone burrowed through the door and collided with the falling knife. A small explosion followed. The knife most definitely did not win that battle. But that’s judging from the plastic and metal remains that dropped to the floor without a sound. Which was Hubert's cue to enter the room. "Now, where were we?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Guy gulped, his gaze looking to the door. You're not leaving that easily. Though, the first mistake was thinking that you could pull a fast one on someone who’s loyalty can look suspect at times. The second was being stupid enough to attempt assassination a second time. The first time went absolutely spectacularly. Obviously the second attempt must be even better. That's how these things usually work.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yuri Leclerc." Guy croaked, Hubert and Ferdinand’s expressions shifting slightly. Now we're onto something. What exactly? Who can really say. This is most definitely a start. Just have to see if he truly breaks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anything else you wish to tell us?" Ferdinand added, someone taking this as the perfect opportunity to knock on the door. Hubert ran over and pulled it open. There we find Mercedes and Petra of all people. Good turnaround for getting dressed or something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Everything alright in here?” Mercedes remarked and looked over to Yuri. Our assassin’s gaze turned to our dom, his attention already on the whip. Looking away, both of his ‘guardians’ have already noticed. Too late. You definitely don’t want to get on her bad side. All sorts of unpleasant things await.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, actually.” Hubert remarked and cracked a smile, Ferdinand grabbing hold of his boyfriend’s hand. As for his free hand, that was placed on Yuri. Don’t want any more silly business.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Picking up the pieces</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Bernadetta and Edelgard take Flayn back to her apartment, only to find a surprise. Quite a smashing one.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don't own Fire Emblem.</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Edelgard couldn’t remember if this was the first time she had been to this part of the campus. Yes, she had heard stories of what happened here - mostly a mix of Rhea getting super drunk and a lot of paperwork getting done. Sometimes at the same time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seteth’s apartment shouldn’t be further.” Flayn explained and stepped to the right. Just in time for a chair to come flying by. Looks to have come from above. Yep. Someone is definitely angry about this. Hopefully Catherine and Shamir are alright. Imagine that they had some kind of inkling of what awaited them and when in ahead. Hopefully, that won’t swirl our trio up because of something dumb. Even if the news of both Edelgard ascending to the throne and the death of Seteth. Either order of events is most definitely going to be awful no matter what they do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is this normal?” Edelgard remarked and watched Flayn let out a sigh. Yep. Very much normal behavior for faculty staff. The last thing I would want is for people to actually act like they give a shit and want to do their job. That’s a step too far. No, we need everyone to be completely crazy and not do any work. Or when they do work, it involves being as petty as possible. Wait. That’s pretty much Azama. Fuck. Nice job making things a pain even after you died. Yes, I know we agreed to stop using him as a reference. It just… happened. A slip of the tongue in this stressful situation that refuses to come to an end. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come. Too late.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sadly, yes.” Flayn remarked, headbutting the door. I get that you don’t have your keys on hand, but there had to be a better way to get yourself in. What? This is no better than all the other methods used on doors. If anything, this is far worse. This is a dragon. Well, a part-dragon. The difference isn’t really that big to make up for the fact that there’s now a massive hole in the door. Pushing what remained to the side, our trio pushed through to the other side. Compared to the Varley Manor or any of the other apartments, this place looked like a cave. Quite a lot of work went into just making sure that it looked like one. As expected of dragons. But this is on a whole different level. I can’t tell you how much those rocks weigh, but it has to be a lot. How the heck can the building even support this? There must be some kind of trickery at play here to make this possib- No, not magic. Making something look like a cave is less of a dark trick and more a case of someone taking the time to properly decorate an area. Especially an apartment meant to blend in with all its peers without suspicion. A shame we can’t go there and actually lift one of those rocks up. What? You would totally drag me to that beach if you were given the chance. Burning to a crisp be damned or something. Doesn’t matter. “If it isn’t Shamir getting into blows with Rhea, it’s Catherine having to calm her down in the hopes she doesn’t do something completely petty.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yikes. I know we have some semblance of a grasp on Rhea’s awful mental state, but to hear it directly has a far different meaning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did Seteth get dragged into any of these?” Bernadetta remarked as she walked over to the kitchen. As for Edelgard, her attention was on the living room. Nothing in the way of a TV or really anything modern, the only objects on offer were a couple books. Quite large and bulky books, the sort a dragon would buy to make up for their lack of arm length. The sort with massive fonts and even larger pictures to boot. Opening it up, we look to have ourselves a picture book. The first picture appears to be that of a princess petting a dragon. Quite detailed, I can only imagine the time taken to make sure everything was right. Well, within the specifications provided by whoever went through the trouble of all of this. Probably someone like Seteth. But that’s reckless speculation. No real use in that. Pushing the page away, there’s an almost endless stream of words. A lot of which Edelgard doesn’t look to understand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Occasionally.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s good to know. I can only imagine that a dragon might be one of the few who are capable of dealing with Rhea. What would someone give to calm them down? A dragon-sized teddy bear? You do realize that’s a lot of fluff just to fill one teddy bear. One that’s the size of a small building? That would nearly bankrupt the stuffing industry. Or come close.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is Rhea a dragon?” Bernadetta remarked and pulled the fridge door open. Inside, what can only be described as death is on the other side of what I hope is a modern fridge. Kind of hard to tell with the cave paneling. Personally, I don’t think I completely trust that fridge. Remember to clean it. Those things can get awfully nasty if you’re absolutely careless. Yes, I went through the trouble of clearing out the old food. It’s something we’re going to need to do more often. Like it or not.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe? I wouldn’t be surprised.” Flayn answered and watched Bernadetta toss fish bones onto the floor. Why were those in there? Unless you’re eating part of the fish at a time, it would be easier to just cut it off and dispose of the remains somewhere. But not the fridge. That’s only adding to the issue here. Probably not the only one in there. “Though, I’ve never actually seen them fighting, so I can’t really say why they go through all the trouble.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something something, difference of opinions. Pretty much sums it up, maybe a bit too nicely. Is my age showing? Absolutely. Do I care? No. Beyond the point. A few more fish bones come out. I don’t think any of that food is edible. Even for dragons.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gotcha.” Edelgard answered and watched her girlfriend close the fridge. Heading back over to the emperor, her attention turns to the book. Looking to the text, she isn’t looking to have an easy time either. I have no clue what it is either. You would think this setup would give us the ability to look these things over, but not. “Flayn dear, can you show us where your bedroom is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Flayn nodded and looked over to the hallway. Letting out a deep breath, the healer made her way over. Perfectly understandable. I too would be an absolute mess if the death of a family member occured mere hours ago. Add in the fact that the people above are obviously fighting over that death, it’s not the situation you want to find yourself in. Ever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seteth’s is further down the hall.” she continued and watched her mothers nod. Coming to a stop at the first door on the right, it’s as simple as twisting the knob and pushing it forward. To the surprise of no one, the cave theme continued into here. A mini cave entrance sat towards the back, a mattress sitting underneath. A variety of fish plushies and pillows had been placed on it, all of which sporting a mixture of bite and scratch marks. What blankets provided had been thrown about the room in the most chaotic way possible. Speaking of the floor, someone went through the trouble of carving little fishing into the stone. I don’t even dare to imagine the amount of time spent on that feature alone. One wrong chisel strike and you've potentially wasted an expensive piece of stone. Or worse, accidentally killed someone. Safety standards weren't as rigid as they are now. Far lower turnover too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rest of the room looked untouched - waiting for the time when some love would come to it. No sign of a closet or anything that contains clothes. I'm not even going to take my head to that place. No real use in doing that. But that isn't where our trio's gaze currently finds itself. That would be the large hole someone created through a wall. Nice of a view of the outside campus this was. I don't think this was the intention of Seteth. At all. Nor is the large creature laying right in front of said hole.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello everyone!” Bartholomew announced and sat himself up. What the fuck?! How the hell is he of all people here? Shouldn’t he be down at the stables, tending to the wyverns and horses? Good. I’m not going crazy. Just one more normal fucking thing that happens here at Gareg Mach. Wonderful. “Uh… the pope ordered all wyverns to stand by her side. As the unofficial leader of them, I told her no. So she threatened to murder us all. Doesn’t help that a monster has taken up residence in the stable, eating the horses.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bernadetta’s gaze shifted to Edelgard, who in turn looked to Flayn. Uh… I got nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me can stay, right?” Bartholomew remarked and the trio took a step back. Looking about, he looked about one more time. “Or would it be better for me to go to the sewers?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The words rolled out, the emperor’s gaze swiveled back. Don’t tell me that it was pointless to keep Yuri alive.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s exactly down in the sewers?” Edelgard remarked, the talking wyvern not even focusing on her. Instead, it’s a matter of looking for his horse. Which was likely thrown out with everything else in the process of crashing through a wall. A door isn't that hard to open. But you people make it look like it is. Even Benny, who needed everyone to have animal control on speed dial, could properly open doors. Yes, a bear sometimes came in, but usually not for long. I cannot imagine anyone with that kind of kindness of animals working well here. Even if someone liked that was here, they would probably book it to greener pastures.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A city." Bartholomew answered, not even looking to the emperor. Even as Edelgard walked around to meet his gaze. At least give her that courtesy. This day has been going on far too long. Last thing we need is an uncooperative wyvern. "You need person who knows password. Otherwise they kill you and friends of you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Focusing on Bernadetta, Edelgard got a nod. Heading back over to our pair, a deep breath followed. That's progress… I think. Even if it doesn't turn out, oh well. Just fight your way through whatever waits beneath the halls of Gareg Mach. You're all almost adults. Not much can stand in your way. Even if something does, just kill it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ready to go?" the emperor remarked, Flayn grabbing hold of her mother’s hand. Squeezing it tight, Edelgard grabbed hold of Bernadetta’s hand. Heading away from Flayn's room, it’s a thankfully quick walk back out.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Due to me returning to college for the winter quarter,</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Breaking up with you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Catherine makes a choice and Rhea flips out.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The following chapter contains references of attempted rape and non-con.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don't own Fire Emblem.</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Even before they reached the archbishop's quarters, Shamir could tell they had a tantrum coming. There would be no avoi-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I was being metaphorical there. Guess a certain someone took that as an excuse to fling a chair out of the window. Does explain what our previous trio saw when they went to check out Seteth’s apartment. Still, that could possibly kill someone. Just because you’re the most powerful person in all of Fodlan (on top of possibly being a dragon and a complete and utter scumbag) doesn't mean you're immune to the consequences of offing a person because you were incredibly pissed that your woobie was nowhere to be found and you for whatever reason couldn't actually contact them to make sure they were all right. I'm more than certain you can use a phone. Yes, Asugi once tried to eat it. I'm not particularly sure what made him think that was a good idea. Especially when he had a stash of sweets on hand. Or that time Midori tried to use her phone to smash something or other. Those children were quite a handful. But they've all grown up into respectable adults. Even Rhajat. Somehow, Corrin was able to actually tame her. Or at least, smooth out the less than acceptable edges to a point where social outings weren't either awkward, indecent or in some cases - both.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do you want me to go in or you?" Catherine remarked, her partner’s attention turning to her. Clear as it was what Rhea wanted, giving it to her brought with it a set of less than usual problems. Chief of which was actually getting Catherine back out. A sniggle for a couple moments was one thing. But a full-on hug or a smother, good luck making it out alive. By that same token, Catherine staying outside was perhaps even worse. Rhea could very easily jump to a conclusion that was so far from the truth that it would be absolutely laughable and scary. More the latter than former in this case.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll go in first, you follow right behind." Shamir answered, reaching out for her girlfriend’s hand. Catherine grabbed hold and squeezed tightly. This was all the comfort they might get before heading into the belly of the beast. Best to savor this while they still can, before Rhea inevitably did something to ruin it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The last stretch to the archbishop's quarters were remarkably silent. One would expect a servant or another faculty member to be hard at work in one of their offices, but Jeralt and Hanneman had chosen to go off to lunch and weren't coming back any time soon. Perhaps that was better. The last thing those two needed was a massive mess to happen because the archbishop was well, the archbishop. Not their fault, even if those who could’ve stopped her were powerless to do so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s you.” Rhea announced, a second chair going flying. Passing right by the couple, nothing was damaged. Except for the chair. That was definitely lost when it collided with the wall and shattered. Uh… chairs aren’t supposed to do th- What do you mean it happened all the time on the farm? What the hell were your folks making chairs out of? You want wood that will hold up for years, not days. Oh. They were making them out of ice. That sounds… quite time intensive. Even when the chairs don’t shatter, I can’t imagine them not lasting for long. Wait. Where the hell are you even getting the ice in the first place? So people go out to the lake and harvest it. Then you have people bring it over. And then you carve it. Got it. Just making sure I followed that correctly. Then you make sure it stays cold long enough to justify all that work. Was wood that valuable of a commodity in this day and age? Oh. All the forests were protected, so you couldn’t cut them down. I’m tracking. Crap. You’ve gotten me on one heck of a tangent. That’s nothing to be sorry about, dear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peering through, Rhea was standing in the middle of her quarters. Dressed in whi- Oh. You know, maybe telling someone would’ve been a good idea. Or was that a step too far in your planning process.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The answer is no.” Shamir muttered and turned to Catherine. Muttering something to herself, the mercenary got a nod in return. Thunderbrand was brought up, pointed right towards Rhea. “Are you sure you want to do this, Rhea?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rhea laughed, her eyes growing wide. Raising a hand up, her nails looked more like claws. Don’t tell me she’s actually a dragon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“First Bartholomew and now my very own Catherine.” Rhea cooed and brought the hand to her lips. Twirling about, energy surged in her palm. Oh fuck. Jumping right to the big powers, there’s no real use in diplomacy. Even if she could be talked down, there’s no way that things are ever going to be the same between the trio. If it somehow were to go back, the resentment alone would tear one of them out of the picture. Looking to be our wonderful darling Rhea here. Unless her blast of energy has something to say in regards to that. Probably does. “Why does everyone want to leave me?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The collected energy shot out in a beam. Catherine and Shamir ducked, just barely missing getting sliced in half by whatever the fuck that was. Couldn’t be a stone or some kind of piece of technology. No, this is actual magic. Feels kind of odd to hear that coming from my own lips. Yes, what I did would very much be classified as magic. If there actually existed people who could actually vouch. Sadly, not. Even if there does exist more ‘magic’, most of it has faded from this world. What does exist is either relegated to the royal family or gone into hiding so they can not be troubled. Which is very much my fault. I can’t even remember what I was even trying to do in the first place. Probably something incredibly stupid as a show of power.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I get that you see me as your soulmate, Rhea.” Catherine answered and looked to her boss. Butterflies echoed about her stomach. This was not what she expected to be facing currently. No, she had been hoping for a short period of time to change into her regular clothes and maybe decompress. But that was asking for a bit too much right now. Instead she got a crazy ex hellbent on keeping her. Sounds like the sort of situation that Soleil would write up. Probably post online for the whole world to see. What. I have not looked recently. More hypothetical and stuff. Wait. I was right on the money. Fuck. Please tell me the girl doesn’t stay with the creepy yandere and instead with the person who actually loves and cares for her. Good. I sometimes think she might need some healthier coping methods that aren’t Nina-related. Yes, I’m very much aware she’s her business partner and married. But that doesn’t mean that everything needs to be done with her. Sometimes, it's better to do something alone. No offense to you, Mozu dear. None taken? Good dear. Back to work. “But I can’t say the same for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her words croaked out, her eyes forced shut. Images danced about her head - sex and debauchery between drake and human. Uh… that’s most definitely not professional. I don’t think humans can actually do even half of those procedures. At all. Even if they could, I’m fairly certain that this is wrong on so many fucking levels. And yet, she stood still. Standing at the crossroads of her future. Better now before someone else chooses f-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman broke away from the dragon, trying her best to get away from her rapist. But try as she might, the dragon would not give her up. If anything, they were toying with her in the hopes of breaking her down. The nerve of that bitch. Couldn’t she see the damage done to her? How could anyone love like that? Even if the damage could be repaired, was there even a point? She was just someone’s broken doll. No one would ever want to play with a broken doll. Ever. That would be sil-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A second woman came into frame, bow in hand. Letting an arrow fly, it’s a direct hit on the dragon. Turning to this damsel, she carefully grabbed hold of her hand. Accepting this gesture, the pair make their escape. Eyelids shooting open, a choice made.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rhea, nothing personal.” Catherine muttered and looked towards Rhea. Flinging Thunderbrand forward, she let the blade fly towards the archbishop. But instead of piercing through her dress, the weapon bounced off. Landing on the floor, another blast of energy followed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“HOW FUCKING DARE YOU! THAT WEAPON IS THE REPRESENTATION OF OUR BOND, OF YOUR FAMILY’S NEED TO SERVE ME.” Rhea screeched, her targets already walking away. No real use in dealing with this shit. Probably find some kind of clothes elsewhere. Maybe like Shamir’s room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How does maid outfits sound?” the mercenary muttered and got a nod from her girlfriend as they ducked to avoid yet another beam from miss pissypants. Running a bit down the hall, they came upon their destination. Charging right through the door, the couple found themselves in an absolute pigsty. Not the sort of place I would expect from a mercenary. “I kind of have attachment issues.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catherine nodded and headed over to the closet. Pulling the door open, a pair of complete maid outfits awaited. Carefully pulling the apparel from it’s dry cleaning bags, off goes the swimsuits. In their place is the modest attire of a maid. Nowhere near as nice as the ones that were used all those months ago, they were definitely a step up from swimsuits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here’s your bow and arrows.” Catherine whispered, handing the weapon over to her girlfriend. All while another beam of energy passed through the hallway. You might not want to head through there. At all. Picking up her sword, the couple’s attention turned to the window. You know, that wouldn’t be the worst thing you’ve done. At least remember to grab your map. “Ready to go?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shamir nodded and grabbed the map. Pointing to the parking lot, a pair of drones picked them up.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Bracing for a mess</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don't own Fire Emblem.</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Even as he approached their apartments, Caspar’s head felt as if it had been hit by a hammer repeatedly. Regardless of whether those calls to Wifey were legitimate or not didn't matter. His father was more than likely making a move for the crown. A move that would put his relationship with Edelgard and the other Black Eagles in jeopardy. Maybe it's better that he doesn't know what happened in the last part.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What a wonderful mess we find ourselves in." the fighter remarked, shifting Linhardt’s position on his back. Still asleep, part of him envied his boyfriend. Able to tune out the drama and the fighting, sleeping the day away. What he would give to have sleep like that. No, the only sleep he got was the kind filled with nightmares and bad dreams. Endless taunting of failures and mistakes in the face of his brothers, followed by beatings by his father. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You could say that again." Linhardt chimed and slowly opened his eyes. Looking down to Caspar, time was taken to jump off. Then we have some dusting off. Not entirely certain what the point of that was. I don't think he got any sand on him during the beach trip. Probably just making sure. Good for him. "Anything you plan on saying to him?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His words rolled out, Caspar’s gaze shifting to the ground. What the fuck could he say that would communicate the sheer frustration he felt within over this. There was no reason to go behind the newly elected emperor and plot her demise. Not one bit. But his dad just had to take it that far. Ironically, it was perhaps the one thing he and Linhardt’s dad actually agreed on. Which probably wasn't saying much, now that he actually put some thought into this. When the call for war did inevitably come, would they side with their fathers or with Edelgard? Okay, that’s an obvious trick question. It's crystal clear who you and your sleepyhead boyfriend are going with. You're just frustrated at this process and need to lash out to let off some steam. Simple as that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Probably shout at him." Caspar muttered, his focus returning to Linhardt. "If that doesn't work, we can just pit them against each other and hope for the best."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Quite wishful thinking for someone who threw a massive tantrum over their son coming out. I guess conversion camps aren't a thing in Fodlan. With the way certain people act in this world, one would perhaps think that was the case. Thank fuck all the ones in both Hoshido nd Nohr were forced out of business. Can't imagine either ruler really wishing to have anyone suffer through that kind of hell ever again. But I digress. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rest of the walk to the apartment was remarkably chill. Neither man said anything, choosing instead to listen to their surroundings. Have to imagine the sink getting thrown and all the lasers being less than chill on one's ears. But that might be more me than them. Yeah. I'm going to go with that here. Taking stairs up two at a time, things were looking up for once. All they needed to do was get changed and then rendezvous back with everyone else. Super simple. Not much could really get in the way of th-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or would’ve been, had not for the fact of someone going through the trouble of ripping their doors clean off again and tossing all their belongings out onto the walkway. Because of course they did. Can’t have a single nice thing on this stupid campus. If someone does, the forces that hold their grip over Fodlan swoop down to destroy it. That's how it looks, at least. In actuality, more a case of things happening and setting off other things that in turn cause the events that really hit our heroes hard. Or something along those lines.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wonderful." Caspar muttered and peered into his side of the carnage. They had only been gone a couple of hours. Why did someone need to go through the trouble of tearing the entire place up. He didn't even keep much of value here. Even if he were to do that, the fighter would've gone through the trouble of concealing it in a safe space. The kind that wouldn't get destroyed whenever he wanted to practice his wrestling techniques. Considering the weight bearing on some of the apartments, it's far more surprising that our fighter here hasn't dislocated his shoulder. One of the few silver linings to be found here. Not really saying much, but still something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The entire contents of the fridge was strewn about the floor. None of it had been eaten it was eaten, but time had been taken to scatter it to all parts of the apartment. Serious overkill on display here. Now he was going to need to do more grocery shopping. If some chunk of time ever got freed up from this massive mess that refused to let any of them to actually allow for those kinds of activities. Even with classes being held in Byleth’s apartment, everything felt like it went out of their way to make sure that he didn’t have any semblance of free time. This whole kidnapping case was just one more layer on their backs forcing them to fight for any chance of some time to themselves to do something to actually relax. But he pushed that thought from his mind and stepped inside. The smell alone assaulted him first. Followed by the various sorts of foods on the floor. How the hell was he going to clean this all up in a short time? No matter. Just needed to make sure the stuff that truly mattered had not been disturbed by this random stranger. Or perhaps someone related to his dad. Maybe even Linhardt’s dad. Was this the day they were dreading? The one where their fathers decided to stomp them out and replace them with people who would continue the status quo?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They did quite a number on your place, Caspar.” Linhardt announced, poking his head into the chaos. Looking about a couple times, his attention returned to the fighter. “Do you want me to call him or you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caspar looked away, muttering something under his breath. Did it really matter which one of them called, they were going to face a firestorm either way. The only real difference being which one was going to be emotional support.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll call him.” Caspar muttered and pulled his phone out. Making sure to unlock it, he doesn’t have any trouble getting to the actual ‘phone’ part of the device. Fingers tapping across the device, he held it up to his ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whut the fhuck do youh wunt?” Count Bergliez announced and we’re already off to a great start with this conversation. Wonderful. Yeah. He’s going to give Rhea a run for her money in sheer meltdown potential. Though, we have a good idea on what he’s capable of doing. Mostly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A little birdy told me that you were planning to overthrow the emperor.” Caspar countered, the sound of something breaking echoing about from the other end. Off to a wonderful start. “If I were you, I would cut that out. Edelgard can very easily put you on house arrest for your behavior.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>More smashing. Definitely glass, but who can say. More than enough for Caspar to reach out for his boyfriend’s hand. Squeezing it tight, he made sure to keep close to the fighter. Maybe even eavesdrop a little bit. Okay, maybe a lot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do I look like I give a rut uss what the fhuck she wunts?” Count Bergliez continued, fidgeting about on something. Whatever it is, doesn’t sound particularly happy about any of this. I probably wouldn’t be either. “Look ut whut youh mude me do! If youh were a good boy, you would gludly off her in one swell swoop.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The phone nearly fell out of Caspar’s hands. Squeezing Linhardt’s hand even tighter, the phone passes over to him. The scholar took a deep breath, trying his hardest to not let his rage get the better of him. Clear as it was that he was pushing their buttons, they couldn’t let him take control of this conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you place a hand on any of them, I will personally march into your territory and take it for the Adrestian Empire.” Linhardt and got a double take from Caspar. Part of him couldn’t believe what had just come out of his mouth. All of his life, Linhardt had served as the voice of reason in the face of his wants to take on everyone who pissed him off. But here, the shoe was on the other foot. The scholar couldn’t be serious in taking on his dad and conquering their territory. While that would technically make him his prisoner, it would also solve their problem. Minus the fact they still had Count Hevring to deal with. Hopefully, he would be of much saner mind than Caspar’s dad. Not really saying much. “Do I make myself clear? Because you’ve been nothing but a washed-up drunkard.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No response came from the other end of the phone, the caller hanging up. Handing the phone back to Caspar, Linhardt found himself faced with a strange look. To be fair, you just threatened to take an entire territory. That’s not something you want to be joking about. Ever. That’s only a threat you make when no other option works and you need to leverage all you have in order to nip massive problems in the butt before they attempt to do something so stupid that they put everything at ri- Yes, there’s definitely a debate on whether that was the case here. Say that Count Bergliez does act on that threat and attempts to storm Gareg Mach, then what? Linhardt could be charged with treason. But by the same token, Count Bergliez could very likely take that threat seriously and choose to not go through with that plan. Only time will really give us the answer to that question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go get dressed.” Caspar remarked and got a nod from Linhardt, the fighter watching his boyfriend head back into his apartment. Letting out a deep breath, his attention turned to his own apartment. He wasn’t completely sure what to feel in this moment. If anything, his head hurt even more. Definitely the amount of stress you find yourself under without any sign of letting up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hopefully there’s some clothes in here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Heading for the bedroom, Caspar took it all in. Even with the furniture and wall stuff now out in the walkway (the nerve of that person), all of his clothes had at least been left in a pile. The one saving grace of this shit sundae of a day. If you can call an act like that one. Pushing it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nonetheless, the fighter got out of his swimsuit and into his regular clothes. Grabbing his axe, time was taken to make sure that it was on securely. Last thing he needed was his weapon falling off in the middle of a fight and grabbed by an enemy. An easy way to get killed. Once that’s done, he made his way out of his apartment. Linhardt was still in the middle of getting changed, leaving the fighter to his own devices. So he focused on the view from the walkway. Maybe once this whole mess blew over, he could ask Linhardt out on a date. Or something similar. Even without that, could they take their relationship to the next level. Just food for thought. Right now, he needed to get pumped up for the coming battle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ready to go?" Linhardt inquired as he exited his apartment. Dressed in his regular clothes, his stone bag now jingling about. Caspar turned to his boyfriend and nodded. Reaching out for his hand, Linhardt accepted the gesture. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Let’s go." Caspar remarked and began the journey back to the vehicle.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Back Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don't own Fire Emblem.</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Back where it all began, Lysithea let out a sigh of relief. The end of this nightmare was up ahead, waiting to break through and bring an end to this. That wasn't a reason to get complacent about it. No, she needed to hold strong through till the end. Only when she could be in Manuela’s arms, then she would know this was over. Hopefully. But we don't exactly know what awaits, so who can say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Any preference on your outfit?" Cherry inquired and reached out for the light switch. Flipping it on, she looked about the room. One day, this could also be her home. Odd as that was to think in the middle of a kidnapping case (which it absolutely was), perhaps it was best to look towards the future. A future that might involve taking care of someone with a medical condition unlike anything she had ever heard of before. Whoever these people were, they would have hell to pay for committing such acts against people like Lysithea. Which also meant people like Manuela and in turn, Byleth. Nothing that her axe couldn’t handle. Along with the strength of everyone else, of course. No person is an island. If they somehow were, I would have far too many questions on how the hell that actually works. Yes, I’m very keenly aware of the irony of that statement. Believe me. Though, it would be one hell of a trick. You can only do it once, but still. Beyond the point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not really, but I can handle it myself.” Lysithea answered, watching her surrogate mom head over to the kitchen. Tempted as she was to follow right behind, she needed to get dressed. If Cherry really wanted to change, she could grab something of Manuela’s. Bound to be something of hers in there. But that was more a hunch than anything concrete. It had been some time since she had come back in someone else’s clothes, but that was based on all the times the little mage managed to catch a glimpse of her mother trying to sneak back into the academy and trying not to make a sound. Not always successful. Statistically impossible, even with the best possible set of circumstances. Murphy's law is one heck of a thing. Try as one might to fight it, it'll bite you in the back of the ass with all its might. I've learned that lesson more times than I can count. Never worth it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Heading to her room, Lysithea took the time to pull her stone pouch off. While whoever put her in this outfit had some idea of the kinds of clothing she liked, that didn't mean the outfit worked. If anything, the swimsuit had been a bit excessive for all the walking and stone throwing she had to do earlier. Perhaps this mysterious force thought they were going to do some swimming or other water activities. Maybe in a more peaceful time. Right now, the only thing that mattered was finding her adopted mother and figuring out why whoever took her needed her. Probably nothing good. If it somehow were, she would be back by now. That was how these things usually work. At least, that was how it looked in her mind. Reality sometimes didn't work out that way. Usually, it somehow ends up being weirder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Closing the door behind her, the little mage looked her room over. Unchanged from earlier, it felt… different. Not in a bad or negative way. More a case of allegiance. Yes, Manuela was the teacher for the Golden Deer. But judging by their attitude to her kidnapping, could she really stand by them? When war did sweep them all up and refuse to let them go, could she count on Claude and everyone else to pull through? Or would they just leave her out to rot for the sake of saving their own skins? The second one, based on the way that idiot acts. Maybe one or two could be persuaded to be there for her, but her body would perhaps be the one thing that ultimately decided that. Even if she were to make it to the end of this war, would there even be time to truly cherish that moment? Or would the stress alone do her in, reducing her to nothing more than a vegetable in a petite body?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pushing that thought out of her head, Lysithea's focus turned to her current attire. Perfect for a day at the beach, not so great for any other strenuous activity. Let alone sneaking around in some place underneath the academy. No, this called for her actual uniform. Now where had she put it? Or better yet, where had that mysterious force put it. One would think they would be nice enough to leave it all in a pile or maybe even fold it. No, her uniform was nowhere to be found. Absolutely unbelievable. Couldn’t throw just the tiniest of bones to her after everything. No, that was asking for too much. Absolute perverts. Where was Manuela when you needed her. Oh right. Kidnapped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taking a deep breath, Lysithea focused on her closet. Opening it up, she looked over the available options.A majority of these options were dresses Manuela had bought recently for those days when she was really little. Not ideal for taking on a bunch of armored thugs. No, she needed something a bit ‘older’. That’s probably not the word to describe something like this, but it’ll have to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There we go.” she thought and looked to this set of outfits. While we’re still working with dresses, these look a lot less childish. A nice mix of whites and lavenders. What? Is it wrong to want to buy cute outfits for your wife? I wore that stupid witch costume you bought me. For the record, no witch would ever be caught in something like that. Like I said before, most mages have gone underground. They are not going to waltz around dressed like an adult industry star. That’s what the market is these days. What do you mean you bought me another costume. Fine. I’ll wear it. But that will be the last one I do. Please, the big eyes aren’t helping your case. Not one bit. My decision has been made. There is nothing you can do to change th- Where the hell did you get that? I don’t remember any packages addressed to you coming on. What? Forrest made this for you? Color me surprised then. But you’ve gotten me severely off-track and that is a problem. Maybe once I’m done with this part and the next, I can truly indulge you. Good. As I was saying before my wonderful wife got me sidetracked, Lysithea pulled out a cream-color dress with lavender lace. Slipping it on, a pair of lavender flats come out right after. Slipping them on her feet, time was taken to make sure her dress was straight. Yada yada, don’t want your stone pouch falling off. We’ve been through this drill enough times to know what’s necessary to get done. Once that’s done, Lysithea skipped her way over to her full-body mirror. Staring into her reflection, a smile formed on the little mage’s face. Doing a twirl, she took one more look into the glass. For a brief moment, she could swear she saw Manuela standing behind her. But that wasn’t possible. Manuela had been kidnapped. Unless…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Turning around, the little mage found herself staring down Cherry. Dressed in one of Manuela’s more casual dresses, the axe jingles about with each motion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That wasn’t entirely what I meant.” Lysithea muttered and watched Cherry roll her eyes. Grabbing the diaper bag, she carefully straddled that to her side. Then it’s right back to looking at Lysithea. “I’m ready to go. How about you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cherry nodded and reached for the little mage’s hand. Grabbing hold, they made their way out of the apartment and onto the walkway. Heading down, things were looking relatively peaceful. Though, that might be the result of heading out some time after Rhea acted like a spoiled bitch. Back on solid ground, all that’s left to do is head for the van. A task that was surprisingly easy. One that everyone else has already completed. Somehow. Doesn’t matter at this point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s everyone now.” Dorothea announced and looked to Byleth. Getting a nod, her focus turned to Yuri.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Into Abyss</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We end out Chapter 6 with things going wrong.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don't own Fire Emblem.</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Yuri Leclerc wasn't completely sure why these people wanted to go to Abyss. Regardless of their claims of their friend being down there, they were just asking for trouble. Between all the riff-raff who hanged about the tunnels and his friends, they were just asking for trouble. Two of them were dressed as maids. Did they really not have anything else to wear? They were wearing swimsuits earlier. Maybe that had something to do with it. The rest of them were dressed in school uniforms. Yes, this was an academy for Rhea’s personal toys. But they had to have some kind of casual outfit. But he pushed that thought out of his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Care to show us this special spot?" Byleth inquired and found herself treated to an eyeroll. Good to see Hubert and Ferdinand’s threats made a difference to asshole's attitude. Asking a bit too much out of Yuri here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just stay behind me." Yuri muttered and caught a glimpse of Hubert flipping a stone about in his hands. All the threat he needed to straighten up and maybe be cooperative. Or at least, I hope so. "Do you know where the nearest manhole is?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking among each other, it's Caspar of all people who raised his hand. I'm not even surprised at this point. Probably a prank gone wrong or cruel, twisted punishment. Possibly both in our fighter's case. The story of why will probably come out some time in the fut- No, this idiot at some point decided to go wander around the sewers. Which implies there are people down there… doing something. Keeping to themselves? Or just engaging in nefarious activities. The possibilities are endless. Or close to endless depending on how you look at it. Whatever the case, Caspar led his classmates over to the nearest manhole. Not that far from the parking lot they had agreed to meet in, but we'll out of sight of Rhea on the off-chance she decides to flip out on everyone and I don't know, declare war. Hopefully, she calms herself down. Not that Catherine or Shamir have a place to call home for the time. Something something cooler heads prevail. Or however that saying works. I have no clue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Here goes nothing." Caspar announced, his axe pulled back. His classmates took a couple cautious steps back and possibly wondered what the hell was going through Caspar’s head at the moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you sure there isn't a better way to go about breaking through?" Mercedes called out, our fighter not even looking at her. No, he was intent on smashing through without a care. Swinging it down, the axe head sliced right through the manhole with relative ease. What the fuck? That isn’t how manhole covers work. I’m not an expert, but there are clear building code violations on display here. How else would we explain this? People like Sophie are bound to run over with Abel and get herself trapped. Like that time she managed to get herself trapped with Setsuna when they went hunting that one time. Not sure why Corrin thought they were perfect to send out together. Better than sending Setsuna out on her own. But not by much. Doesn't matter, Caspar is jumping down into the sewers. Wonderful. Guess it's safe to go into. Maybe? For all the years I've lived, going into a sewer system isn't something I've ever done. This is going to be an interesting learning experience for both of us. Or a waste of knowledge. These things are hard to determine until you actually experience them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nonetheless, our heroes follow right behind. But not before making sure there's space for them to actually fit. Always a good idea before jumping down into places you have never been before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yuck." Lysithea muttered, carefully dropping down. While not a far drop, this wasn’t what the little mage had in mind when it came to secret entrances. There had to be a closer entrance, right? Or was the fear of getting spotted by a surface dweller too much to take? If they're that concerned with having people finding them, why have an entrance at all? That's more than a legitimate excuse to become self-sufficient and not have to worry about anyone finding you… up until you have a major medical emergency and have no one capable of treating it. In that case, you would need to dig a new entrance and hope that you have enough resources to reach the surface or a tunnel that connects back to there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Down in the sewer tunnel itself, we have a larger than one would need tunnel lined with lamps. Construction appears to be carved stone, with a bit of concrete mixed in at spots where structural integrity would be a challenge. Doesn't look to be any sewage though. Unless its all collected up at one spot and then sent into the Varley Territory for giggles. Yes, it is very petty. But that’s the point. You want to send a message to your enemies that you don't want them to mess with you. Though, this can also backfire in the most spectacular of fashions if you do this wrong. Guess the Varley Territory's sewage plant was more than capable of keeping up with all that it got thrown at it. Maybe. Otherwise, the results would be absolutely shitty. What? That was comedy gold. At least worth a chuckle. A tiny chuckle then? I'll take it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Following Yuri, our heroes found themselves dragged through a variety of twists and turns of these supposedly used tunnels. The fact that everyone fits is still the weirdest part about this. Ignoring the intended use, it's almost as if someone was definitely aware of this place and was trying to extend an olive branch out. Not that the people of Abyss really seem to take it in stride. Or this is so someone could take them all out for one reason or another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How much farther do you think?" Ferdinand announced and reached for Hubert's hand. Grabbing hold, the dark mage accepted the gesture. Squeezing the cavalier's hand, a deep breath followed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can't imagine it being much further if that idiot values his life." Hubert answered and looked ahead. More tunnel ahead, with little in the way of anything to actually break it up. I can see their frustration. "That, or he's leading us in circles."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri's gaze swiveled over to the couple. Muttering something to himself, he made his way over. Oh dear. Hopefully this doesn't come to blows or stones in this case. In this closed-off space, any move made could easily spell the end of everyone. Not the outcome you want to have when no one else knows where you are.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We’re almost there." Yuri muttered and headed back to the front of the group. That was not how I expected that confrontation to go down. Doesn't matter. With our gracious leader back doing his job, another turn followed. Then a bit more walking down a straight path before finally… something different.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Off to the side was a large metal door. A variety of signs hung across this strange barrier. All with symbols I don't recognize. Though, the one that looks like fan blades that are currently stopped looks quite nice. Even if the meaning of it probably isn't.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me do the talking.” Yuri announced and grabbed hold of the door handle. Pulling it open, we have ourselves a gatekeeper. Unlike the one manning the gates up top, they were dressed in a suit and slacks. Not really armed with anything. Odd, considering the entirety of Abyss looks to be just beyond him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Welcome back." the gatekeeper greeted and looked over to Yuri. Muttering something to himself, Yuri rolled his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"They're with me." the asshole announced, gazing beyond this obstacle and unto the actual 'Abyss' itself. Compared to the generally mild halls of Gareg Mach, something about this place looks as if someone puked a bunch of styles in one place and hoped that they would all turn into some cohesive theme. Parts of this place look like modern construction. If it weren't down here, I would probably assume that you could find a place like that in Fodlan. But then you reach other parts of this underground city and wonder what the hell happened. Scrap metal and discarded pieces of wood hang all about, giving the look of something right put of an apocalypse. Or perhaps some of the more paranoid places of Corrin’s kingdom. Can't remember if we're allowed to say it's name. We are? Phew. Valla was a weird trip all the way through. Well worth it, but still super odd. "Something about a kidnapped friend being down here."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The gatekeeper's attention swiveled over to Byleth. Looking over our professor,  it’s onto the rest of her students. Okay… Pretty clear that you're outnumbered. I wouldn't even think of trying something funny on them. You don't want to know the worst that can happen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You can go through, but no funny busin-" the gatekeeper started, a blast of fire coming extremely close to turning him to ash. Looking behind himself, we have ourselves a dragon. But not your ordinary flesh and blood sort. That would be a bit too easy for all parties involved. No, this is a strange hybrid of bone and reanimated flesh, more than ready to walk the earth once more and take vengeance on all who had sealed them away in this prison. Odder still, Manuela was cradled in its surprisingly short arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Manuela!" Lysithea screeched, watching for a response back from her adopted mother. When none came, the little mage dug into her stone pocket. Grabbing hold of one in particular, Cherry lifted her up before she could pull anything out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s not charge in just yet.” Cherry barked and got a look from Lysithea in return. Setting her back down, the bartender let out a sigh. “We don’t even know if your regular tricks would even work on a dragon - undead or not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lysithea looked back over to the dragon. Cherry most definitely had a point there. Even if that didn’t change the fact that Manuela was so close… yet out of reach. Curse those invisible forces controlling life or something. Or in this case, the fucker who decided to tempt fate and make Manuela do this. Those are the people you should direct your anger at. Surprised no one has thrown out that one group as being responsible for all of this. They look the kind of people who</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have to thank you, Manuela. Not only have you done the impossible, but you even got everyone I needed where I want them.” a voice announced, echoing about the walls of Abyss. The dragon’s attention turned to Byleth and company. Well… fuck.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A bit of a break. I would say I'm sorry about the cliffhanger leading into Cindered Shadows... but I'm not.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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